A report from the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Medicine says that scientists should be permitted to make "precise additions, deletions and alterations to DNA" in human embryos to prevent serious and genetic diseases .

However, augmenting a person's genes to improve strength, intelligence or beauty à la the 1997 film "Gattaca" is unethical and shouldn't be done, the 22-member panel of researchers added.

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The panel claimed that "genome editing" could greatly improve human health, and that it was currently "being tested in clinical trials to engineer immune cells to target cancerous tumor cells and to make cells more resistant to HIV." The process could also be used to battle conditions like "Huntington’s disease, sickle cell anemia, immune deficiencies, muscular dystrophy, and cystic fibrosis."

The idea of eugenics - altering human genes to remove unwanted traits - is nothing new. Derived from the Greek word "eugenes," eugenics aims to improve the human race by eliminating undesirable traits. The concept's popularity saw a decline during the 1930s, when Adolf Hitler voiced support for the sterilization of "defectives" in 1925 autobiography "Mein Kampf."

Homosexuals, women who were deemed promiscuous, certain racial groups, the blind, poor, mentally ill, deaf and disabled were often segregated, sterilized and even murdered in the name of eugenics in the early 20th century.

Currently, the practice of modifying human genes is illegal in the United States. Many biologists call it unethical, with potentially-dangerous side effects. However, a new method called CRISPR-Cas9 may hold the key to eliminating some cancer types, genetic and metabolic disorders and a variety of diseases in humans, allegedly without negative reactions.

"This line of research is of interest because there are thousands of inherited diseases that are caused by mutations in single genes," the report said, "and these genes could potentially be targeted in future germline editing applications."

Gene modification clinical studies would be used for the "purposes of treating or preventing serious disease or disabilities, and only if there is a stringent oversight system able to limit uses to specified criteria," according to the report.

The report's panel included participants from the US, France, Italy, Israel and China. with support from the US Department of Defense's Advanced Research Projects Agency and the US Food and Drug Administration.